I unexpectedly came across a 1998 movie about what’s happening in 2020. Any films interpreting the future are always amusing: they always show their idea of the future through the lens of the present’s perception limitations. Well, they didn’t miss by much — virtual reality glasses are almost like the real ones from our present. Mobile phones are small, and most importantly, the clothes are normal, not all silver latex.
Of course, it was amusing to see the ancient interface of some operating system. I’d like to think that in the future, electronic design will be more elegant.
Overall, though, they took a shot at technology — in 2020, criminal sentences are not prison, but aging. Yep, messed up — here’s your thirty added on — they’ll age both your body and face. And so a fifteen-year-old boy, who was sentenced for murdering his stepfather, suddenly becomes a forty-five-year-old old man. Well, old man, in his understanding. But now, a cool girl who was out of his league before, suddenly finds herself attracted to him. Also, now he can drink and leave the house.
In general, the topic is very interesting, especially in the context of predicting that in our time, aging and old age will be seen as dreadful prospects, much like, say, contracting AIDS. Interesting, but I believe the film didn’t explore it as much as it could have. They could’ve woven a whole philosophy about the perception of aging, the aging process, and old age in general… But that didn’t happen.
So, the film is a solid 3 out of 5. I wouldn’t really recommend watching it. As a detective film, it’s pretty basic. The murderer is obvious as soon as they appear on screen, and from that point on, it’s not interesting to watch anymore, because there’s no drama. And the cool girl behaves in a rather unclear way.